January 26th 2021

In the northernmost region of the world, there lies one of the most economically rich locations of the world; however, it is one of the most rare. The Arctic region is home to thousands of different species of flora and fauna; which are rarely found anywhere else. This region is also home to tribes who live off of the resources of the land. In the present, there have been numerous attempts to invade this wealthy nation for oil, fresh-water fishing, zinc, etc. but, it has only led to the endangerment of more species. In addition, the increase in temperatures worldwide has only led to more issues. The natural resources of the Arctic are threatened by both greenhouse gasses and economic related invasions. The Arctic region is key for future development, therefore as nations we have to work together in order to protect the most valuable areas of the Arctic for our future generations.

Over the years, the United Nations has done it’s part to keep the Arctic safe from various threats. For example, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea spanning from 1973 to 1982 focused on protecting key ecosystems in the Arctic. In addition, the Arctic Council works to defend the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Arctic region. However, most nations seek to improve their own economic situations by extracting from the Arctic. For instance, in 2016 The United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf sparked some issues between nations regarding boundaries in the Arctic.

In order to defeat this problem, we could propose to create a United Nations Environment Programme subcommittee specifically designed to discuss safe ways to benefit from the Arctic region and safely extract the natural resources needed. The goal is to diminish the amount of issues when companies drill for natural resources from the Arctic and find eco-friendly or innovative ways to avoid hegemonic activity. This conference will be held once a year and will discuss different systems and ways to cap the amount of resources taken from the Arctic. For example, a cap and trade system. Cap and trade management has been a way to control greenhouse gas emissions in the world; however, we could use this system to create an equal system to distribute resources in the Arctic. In order to limit the amount of resources taken in order to secure the Arctic, there will be a set cap of the amount of resources a nation can take. This will diminish and equalize the process of taking resources from the Arctic. In addition, other nations who don’t have the need for as many resources from the Arctic can sell part of their allowance to other nations and make monetary gain. With this solution we can diminish the amount of resources taken from the Arctic while benefiting from them. As a part of this UNEP subcommittee, I would also encourage experts and scientists from all around the world to give feedback on nations actions in the Arctic. They will discuss more eco-friendly and innovative ways to extract resources from the Arctic. In addition, this conference will invite indigenous people from the Arctic region to come and speak their mind on this issue. Overall, the implementation of a conference will discuss where, how, and why specific areas of the Arctic should be protected and how to extract resources from the Arctic while still protecting Arctic ecosystems.